SMOKE emanating from Lautoka’s Vunato dump which causes smog to cover the city centre could soon be a thing of the past.
This after the search for a new landfill began with a feasibility study to find possible sites where the Naboro Landfill concept would be adopted.
Lautoka City Council CEO Mohammed Khan said the council had started with the Ministry of Local Government.
“Currently the Government through Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Environment is conducting a feasibility study on proposed western regional landfill similar to Naboro Landfill concept,” said Mr Khan.
“The project will also address issues like rehabilitation of existing dumps in Sigatoka, Lautoka, Ba and Rakiraki.
“This would mean that waste will be disposed at a more sanitary landfill, citizens of Lautoka will not be exposed to smoke that arise during landfill fire.”
He said this would also lead to a vast improvement in solid waste management by the council.
In Parliament this week, Local Government Minister Maciu Nalumisa said the Vunato dump received an average of 75.5 tonnes of waste per day and 40,330 tonnes of waste annually.
“In the event of a fire, the primary firefighting areas is to isolate the affected areas and prevent the fire from spreading to other sections,” said Mr Nalumisa.
“Once the fire is contained within a specific cell heavy machinery are deployed to create additional ‘fire breaks’ further limiting the spread of fires.”